This pathetic hack is in near total meltdown ever since his humiliating loss in Iowa on Monday, and he’s descending rapidly into a delusional state.

Donald Trump boasted that he attracted a record-setting crowd to a livestock arena at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds on Wednesday night, but photos taken while he spoke inside the Barton Coliseum tell a different story.

Minutes before the billionaire Republican presidential candidate arrived on stage – nearly two hours late – the general manager of the state fair told the crowd that they had set a record.

‘In 1974 we had ZZ Top here and we set our all-time record of 11,451,’ Ralph Shoptaw said on stage. ‘I have just been informed that we have broken that record. Over 11,500. So welcome, Mr. Trump to Barton Coliseum.’

Shoptaw didn’t say who informed him of the head-count. He also did not respond to a request for comment.

When Trump entered the arena and looked out over a half-empty venue, he claimed Shoptaw was the fire marshal and reiterated that he had set a new attendance record.

‘Amazing!’ Trump began his speech. ‘So we broke the record, and I asked the fire marshal, “Please come up because nobody’s going to believe me. Please come up”.’

‘That’s a long-time record that we broke,’ he repeated. ‘Incredible.’

He’s been getting away for so long with these preposterous, grandiose claims, so why not keep lying?

It’s what he does best.

DailyMail.com showed some photos, taken during Trump’s speech, to Trump press secretary Hope Hicks and asked for comment.

‘I wasn’t in attendance,’ she replied via email from New Hampshire.

Then she repeated Trump’s error: ‘I can only go by what the fire marshal said to the crowd. Hope you enjoyed the speech.’

It’s not an error. It’s a deliberate lie and deception.

How can anyone take this guy seriously? Well, the media that’s invested in mischief by having him as the GOP nominee isn’t going to call him out. But the voters will decide his fate, and there aren’t nearly enough stupid people out there as he had hoped. Here’s another look at the “overflow” crowd. Not exactly packing them in. He even tweeted the nonsense.

I was there. The fire marshal did come out to make the announcement with the general manager. There were empty seats because everyone was crowded onto the floor like a rock concert. It was hot and there was at least one person who passed out. I thought they were going to announce that there were too many people on the floor. The photos being shown online are mostly of the crowd as it gathered.